Your Cheapest Ideas

[Tynan]

So far, equipping  a specified weapon has been easy, but I haven't been able to figure out a way to say "go put your Lee Enfield rifle back in equipment slot where you found it", etc.

Select and right click him to make him drop it on the spot. Select and right-click the equipment rack to make him deposit it there. Unless there's a bug, these should work.

[insanityfarm]

Select and right click him to make him drop it on the spot. Select and right-click the equipment rack to make him deposit it there. Unless there's a bug, these should work.

Ah, I probably missed it, sorry for the chain of posts in the Suggestion board.

Another one:
4. A quick way to check your current storyteller. At one point, I was unsure which storyteller I has picked, I couldn't find any way in the UI to check the storyteller. Perhaps listed in the save descriptions, in the Escape menu, or something else entirely?

[ApexPredator]

So far, equipping  a specified weapon has been easy, but I haven't been able to figure out a way to say "go put your Lee Enfield rifle back in equipment slot where you found it", etc.

Select and right click him to make him drop it on the spot. Select and right-click the equipment rack to make him deposit it there. Unless there's a bug, these should work.

I usually just right click on the equipment rack with the person already selected and click "store pistol in equipment rack". It would be nice in the future to reduce micro managing if weapons could have assignments like beds or some way that they would know to suit up for battle without me having to click every person and choose what gun to pick up individually.

[Thunder Rahja]

I usually just right click on the equipment rack with the person already selected and click "store pistol in equipment rack". It would be nice in the future to reduce micro managing if weapons could have assignments like beds or some way that they would know to suit up for battle without me having to click every person and choose what gun to pick up individually.

I just have my colonists carry their weapons at all times. I don't know who started the rumor that colonists don't like carrying weapons, but I see no evidence to support it. Anyone can write in a wiki.

[Kian]

Currently prioritizing construction seems to require (depending on how far along the construction is) more than one order to prioritize it for it to get finished.

For example, ordering a colonist to prioritize construction of a newly placed blueprint results in them carrying some metal to it and then wandering off, rather than completing the construction. They then have to be ordered to once more prioritize the construction before they will actually build it.

Perhaps implementing a priority queue of tasks for each colonist, which should probably be lower priority than eating/sleeping/firefighting (configurable?), but higher priority than tasks they have not been specifically been ordered to complete, would allow colonists to carry out prioritized orders even when interrupted or when their attention is temporarily required elsewhere.

unrelated suggestion:

A menu which lists all people currently on the map, their affiliation (colonist, neutral, raider/hostile) and the ability to jump to them. That way it is easier to find people who are walking through.

[lewisd]

Showing the associated skill values for the tasks on the overview screen would be really useful.  As a tooltip, probably.
I realize the grey background shade relates to that already, but a bit more detail would be nice.
I find I'm constantly opening and closing the overview window so I can see the stats of the currently selected colonist, and set the priority levels.  Then moving on to the next colonist, repeat.  It would be much easier if I could see the skill values from the same screen.

Successfully recruiting someone, or having a random traveller decide to join you, needs to be called out more obviously.  The messages are too easy to miss in the heat of the moment, and their default priorities for work they'll do seems to be quite limited.

[Reaper142]

Hey guys, just been reading a few of these suggestions, some really interesting things being posted

Most of the following suggestions, apart from one are already somewhat implemented features in the game, I'm just suggesting expanding their uses somewhat, if it doesn't mean breaking the gameplay ofcourse. With this in mind, here are my cheapest ideas.

1) Minefield Zones/Blasting Charge zones
Personally I've found a much greater use for Blasting charges as makeshift mines, rather than blasting away rocks. With this in mind, would it be a feasible idea to create a Zone based on this function? You build XX amount of mines in XX distance to each other, place a Zone over it. This Zone would allow you to dictate how the charges should detonate, user-input(how it is now), proximity, or timed. Whilst also having the option of defining who can trigger the bomb (Colonist, stranger or animal).

Attacking forces, or any other target would walk right through your minefield, and depending on your parameters, would detonate accordingly. Ofcourse this nerfs the effectiveness of Raider parties, but as a counter-balance to this, have the AI-Storyteller (Since they can already watch your gameplay) "Notice" that you have made use of minefields, and instead equip raiders with long range weapons (M24 for example), this would negate some of the need for the raiders to approach, otherwise this system could undoubtedly squander any sized attack.

2) Z Levels.... kinda
I know this has been mentioned in this thread before, and also on the Kickstarter page, however I'm not thinking of Z-Levels in the traditional sense.

How about the addition of Guard Tower buildings? A fixed elevated position that only drafted colonists can use. It should raise the colonist to "roof top" level, and in doing so should give some added bonus', a little like the sandbags.
Once the colonist is in the tower, he/she would have a bonus on accuracy and range, however have a negative effect on cover, meaning they're more accurate and long range, but are more susceptable to enemy fire & grenades. There should be no freedom of movement in this position, (which is why I said drafted colonists only), a sentry simply stands there until you decide to give him a break or he has a mental break down, and should have an arc of fire of about 130 degrees, give or take.

A little twist on this idea would be Sentry Towers, the same as before only occupied by sentry guns, the same effect should apply, longer range and higher accuracy vs vulnerability.

3) Layered defensive stats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIcSCzslNas

Pretty much what I was saying in my video, you see how I have my sandbags layered like that? I'm not sure if this mechanic is already in the game, or if it ever will be, but I thought I'd explore in that direction anyhow..

Basically the first layer of sandbag produces 60% cover benefit already, however if I built a second layer, could this offer another 15% or something to the overall benefit? With rocks providing an extra 10%.. I'm thinking of entrenching defences and so on.

I know most of the things I posted are regarding defensive features, main reason being that's what I have the hardest time with. (Because I'm a noob! lol)

Most of the ideas I've come up with may or may not be useful, but I thought I'd post them anyhow

Thanks for reading
//..Tony

[Galamann]

Current functionality: The mail icon is used for all kinds of messages (raiders, trading vessels, etc.). 
Suggested Change: Use meaningful icons instead. Stick figure with a gun for raiders, green ship for farming vessels, blue ship for trading vessels, black ship for slave vessels, stick figure with x's over eyes for crash lander, stick figure with a backpack for wanderer, etc.

Current functionality: When 2 or more colonists are idle (or needing a break from soldiering, or about to snap) and you click on the text telling you this, it centers on one of the colonists only
Suggested Change: Have multiple clicks toggle between the different colonists

[StorymasterQ]

Current functionality: When 2 or more colonists are idle (or needing a break from soldiering, or about to snap) and you click on the text telling you this, it centers on one of the colonists only
Suggested Change: Have multiple clicks toggle between the different colonists

Also the same problem with "Disconnected buildings" message.

[ADOMFan]

I apologize if this has been mentioned before.  Two quick ideas:
1)  Check all/ Uncheck all box in "Overview" box.
2)  A way to cycle through all your characters when you are inspecting one.

Let's say I want to research something.  How do I know who has the highest researching talent or best shooting skill?  I have to individually select each person.  Why not just select one person then be able to cycle through them all.  I think this would be a great feature and shouldn't be to hard to implement.

Great game!  Keep up the good work!

[harpo99999]

I have noticed that the abilities are colour/brightness encoded already ie black square= very poor at task, white is good at task and yellow is GREAT at task

[ChuggingClorox]

hmm cheap ideas..
how about

1)different areas (example: you may choose to explore more of the planet and create new towns and trade routes between them) seems like more than a cheap idea in a way but ill just toss this out there anyways
2)vehicles (example: tanks, mechs, jeeps etc)
3)trenches for defensive purposes (you would need to build a platform along the edge for your colonists to shoot on (as if they have to step on it to look over the top)
4)renewable resources maybe something that can replace(or is better than) metal when you go into the late game like a carbon fiber or something sci fi ish and you can only find it by exploring different zones around the planet and will have to build a special and costly factory to manufacture it(works with idea #1)
5)forests so you can get access to different woods and stuff (iron bark?)
6)hostile towns and bases

thats all i have for the moment i hope these give you some good ideas

[Xakyrie]

not exactly the cheapest idea, but I wonder if its possible.

I for one see promise story-wise from the artificial interactions between colonists.
The traits will go a long way towards this (such as putting a prisoner who's claustrophobic and goes berserk in a tight cell is a bad idea if you failed to notice that).

Anyways, I was wondering if the social element of the game could include their own styles of government?  such as someone elected or assuming the role of leader.  Could be Social and Tenure dependent and perhaps a mix of other useful things.  Might cause some interesting clashes within the community if there are rivals for leadership and different factions supporting them dependent entirely on the random daily social interactions and perhaps similar skills.  Or perhaps if there are 2 or more recognized leaders, they may want 'wants' such as more power or more rooms or more plants or higher shooting skill average, and your decisions as a player decides who gets what, and those who are disappointed get sour.  Those who support said leader would also be affected.

I feel the missing dynamic so far beyond traits is the capability of the colony to rip itself apart, not just failing to survive a rimworld event.  If you want a good story, you need good drama from good characters, and people's petty one-sided interactions with each other with their own reasons are the best drama there is.

However, I recognize this isn't cheap by any means, and traits by themselves will give plenty of interesting drama.  I just feel the need for a little more oomph from that drama.  Just food for thought after traits are in I guess.

[Nasikabatrachus]

I assume this is cheap, but maybe it isn't. In any case, I suggest getting rid of the Home Zone option and adding Firefighting Zone and Cleaning Zone options in its place.

I suggest this because the Home Zone is sub-optimal: areas containing long sections of power conduit are vulnerable to fire, but aren't always places that need to be cleaned. It would be nice to have my colonists set up to fight fires along these vulnerable areas without also wasting the time of colonists on cleaning duty.

[ADOMFan]

Here's another cheap/easy idea:

Add DRAFT to the Overview command

It's a pain to have to individually select every toon whenever raiders attack.

One more... sorry.  This one won't be as easy.
What is the purpose of the game?  What are we trying to accomplish?

I propose the end game is building a spaceship and getting off the planet!  There may be better ideas out there, but it's one possible solution.